Court of Appeal strikes out Gyekye Quayson’s appeal

A Cape Coast Appeal Court has struck out an appeal application filed by Mr James Gyekye Quayson, the embattled Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency for non-compliance of the court’s proceedings.

The court has also dismissed three applications filed by the MP because they had no legal basis since the substantive appeal has been thrown out.

Presiding judge, Justice Irene Charity Larbi together with two other Justices on the panel, said the MP had failed woefully to comply with the court’s orders, directives and proceedings five months after filing his appeal application.

The court said Mr Quayson was given 21 days to file his written submissions but failed to comply, he was also given a summons by the Registry of the court for non-compliance but failed to rectify that hence the dismissal of his applications.

The decision of the court was not to entertain any application before them neither would it take any submissions from the litigating parties.

The dismissed applications included a ‘stay of execution to allow the MP to continue to hold himself as the parliamentarian for the Assin North Constituency’ and also ‘annul the decision of the High Court’, and also seeking an interpretation of Article 94(2) of the 1992 constitution by the Supreme Court, which it had already considered and dismissed that aspect of application by the Apex court.

Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, the lead counsel for the MP, told the court that they had filed an application to dismiss the presiding judge from continuing the case which would be heard on Thursday, March 24 and prayed the court to hold on to the ruling until the hearing of that application.

The court held that the said application was not before them and continued the hearing of the motion before them.

Briefing the media after the ruling, Mr Richard Takyi Mensah, the Central Regional Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) said the rule of law governing the country had prevailed and they were waiting for the Electoral Commission (EC) to declare the seat vacant to enable them to contest it.

A Cape Coast High Court on Wednesday, July 28 last year quashed the 2020 parliamentary election results and called for fresh elections and restrained the MP from holding himself up as representing the people of that constituency.

The presiding judge Justice Kwasi Boakye declared the election of the MP as illegal and void in contravention of article 94(2) of the 1992 constitution on the basis that the MP held allegiance to Canada as at the time of his nomination to contest the seat in the 2020 general election.